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Trad challenge

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Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 1]

Anyone interested in hunting with a trad set up this fall? I would like to see more trad hunters here because of course I think its cooler than anything.

Remember: :"You can brag. You got him trad" (I claim that slogan)

Now, even if you hunt trad this fall you may not become as cool as I am right away. That takes time. But it is a good start!

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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Swede » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 2]

Just think of all the great benefits traditional bow hunters enjoy. Their bow is lighter, and they do not have all those fancy gadgets to mess with. Not much can go wrong with them, and they can be shot at different tilt angles. If you want to go really cheap you can whittle one out at home in the summer with your pocketknife.
The part I like the best is that you rarely hurt any of those nice animals you are hunting. You do not have to track down a fatally shot elk. There is no gutting, skinning, butchering or packing out. You don't have to cut and wrap meat at home on the kitchen table. Another nice part is that you need less equipment because you are not really going to be packing, butchering, etc.
What concerns me about the "traditional" equipment is the reliance on modern materials for the bow and arrows. I also do not know of a good receipt for electronic tag soup.
Finally, instead of rarely bragging about your freshly killed beast, you have a readymade excuse for having nothing to show on the meat pole. You went out hunting the "traditional" way.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 3]

OMG. Pretty funny. You can bet I have used all those devices to justify whatever I do/did tag soups etc.


That was payback for all those photos I posted of Swede I am thinking.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby 7mmfan » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 4]

I think that is one of Swede's better rebuttals.
I hunt therefore I am. I fish therefore I lie.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Swede » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 5]

Swede was just being a jerk. He enjoys being a jerk as much as he can.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby saddlesore » 02 28, 2023 •  [Post 6]

Well you can always say you were trophy hunting
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 7]

Lest we forget...

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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Swede » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 8]

Lest we forget; even a blind pig will get an acorn every once in a while.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 9]

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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 10]

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Re: Trad challenge

Postby 7mmfan » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 11]

Yeah but.... 7mm Rem Mag?
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 12]

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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Lefty » 03 01, 2023 •  [Post 13]

I would be,, but I cant draw and hold the recurve that I bought in 1971 as a 13 year old. Hanging on my gun rack
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Swede » 03 02, 2023 •  [Post 14]

It has been many years since I hunted with my recurve. I would not attempt to shoot at a big game beyond 20-25 yards when I hunted with it. I was just not that good and feared a bad hit since I shot instinctively. Now I will shoot out to 40 yards. The effective killing area I can cover with my compound and rangefinder is over three times as large as I could cover with just my recurve. I applaud anyone with the skill and determination to go out and hunt with their traditional bow.
In Oregon we are seeing more and more restrictions on the game we can shoot. In 2022 Oregon went to the draw for all of the good eastside elk units. Bow hunters have demanded we get to use every piece of equipment that come along. Manufacturers keep coming up with more and better equipment. The price we pay is in lost opportunity. My hat is off to Jhg and the others who have stayed traditional, but you are at a huge disadvantage, and it is mostly not your fault.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 02, 2023 •  [Post 15]

It sure has made me a better hunter.

Regarding gear and the latest/greatest: not sure who did it but someone awhile ago asked the gen public their perception of bowhunters and bow hunting. What came back was pretty negative. Reasons? Gear and behavior on hunting shows.

I am still seeing hunting stuff and bow hunting stuff that has in their headline "kill shot" or "kill shot compilation over 50 kills..." or something along those lines.


I wonder exactly how many idiots it takes to ruin hunting for the rest of us. Even elk101 features kill shot films. I would have thought they knew better.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby >>>---WW----> » 03 03, 2023 •  [Post 16]

If you can shoot a long bow or recurve accurately, I'm all for you. If not, please don't take the chance of wounding an animal.
And there is nothing worse than going to a 3D shoot and being behind a bunch of trad shooters that spend most of their time searching for arrows that completely missed the target.

Personally, I love the allure of shooting a beautiful recurve. But, a man has to know his limitations!!!!
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Swede » 03 03, 2023 •  [Post 17]

For sure traditional bow shooters go beyond their competency. They will try 35 yards when they can effectively shoot 20-25 yards. Compound shooters do the same thing at even greater distances.
I still remember this lady stopping by camp to brag that her husband killed a trophy buck at 80 yards by cutting its throat with a broadhead. No one would go for a neck shot at that distance. He got lucky on a very risky shot. I was on a 3D shoot a few times with the husband. He broke more arrows in the rocks than I could afford.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Lefty » 03 03, 2023 •  [Post 18]

>>>---WW----> wrote: a man has to know his limitations!!!!
Beat me to that quote,,,,,,,very fitting



My daughter's self-imposed limit is at 20 yards,

I could shoot better with my recurve and pins as a 13-year-old than I can now with my compound and that was with 1971 cedar and aluminum arrows , If I could draw and hold and shoot like I did as a 13-year-old I would still hunt traditional.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby ABQ_Chica » 03 25, 2023 •  [Post 19]

>>>---WW----> wrote:...a man has to know his limitations!!!!


100% agree!

It's definitely a personal decision, though. I like to think of it as what I can live with at the end of the day. Using a tradbow does limit my opportunity: It determines what type of terrain I choose to hunt, where I set a stand, and how far I'm willing to shoot (~20 yards). And for me, it also means working out and practicing with my bow all year round to maintain hunting-weight draw strength.

In 5 years of tradbow hunting elk, I've had plenty of longer shot opportunities that I chose not to take, plus opportunities where elk were much closer, but not did not present a good shot angle. These were all my own decisions. And they were decisions that someone else with a different setup and abilities might have made differently, of course.

But yes, it boils down to whether you're willing to understand and work within your limitations. And I can live with that. :)
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby ishy » 03 25, 2023 •  [Post 20]

I had a buddy give me a copy of bowyers bible and some help making one. Very cool experience and am looking forward to going trad at some point, but it gets harder watching meat prices...just can't afford limiting the very few shots I get with a compound even more at this point! Hats off to everyone that does it though. Definitely adds to the trophy perspective-cow with a recurve otc more of a trophy than a big bull in a le unit all day every day.
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby ishy » 03 25, 2023 •  [Post 21]

Couple of the best hunts ever filmed trad or otherwise! Stalker Stick bows if you need a little March adrenaline rush beyond basketball.
https://youtu.be/7djQfW4Il2s
https://youtu.be/xHrN-MoGzqQ
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Re: Trad challenge

Postby Jhg » 03 25, 2023 •  [Post 22]

ishy wrote:... it gets harder watching meat prices...just can't afford limiting the very few shots I get with a compound even more at this point! ...


I thought that was what rifle season was for, a slam dunk for the freezer.
Age and injury aside, the most limiting factor to traditional bowhunting is our attitude. But I am lucky. I always felt I needed to be inside 30 to shoot an animal, rifle or bow. It is my natural distance I think. I just like it to be that way. Close in.

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